


Truth Serum

by songofthe52hertzwhale



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 02:02:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofthe52hertzwhale/pseuds/songofthe52hertzwhale
Summary: Part I: How Derek Seigerson found out Julian Larson was in love with Logan WrightPart II: How Julian Larson found out Logan Wright was in love right back





	1. I

Julian's frowning when Derek walks into the operating room. One of his hands is clasped over his mouth, and his eyes are slightly unfocused. 

This is going to be  _great_ , Derek just knows it. He pulls out his phone, taps the camera icon and starts filming the video he'd promised Logan he'd get.

"Heeeeey buddy," he drawls, moving to step beside Julian's chair, "How you feeling?"

Julian looks up, a slight look of betrayal in his eyes, "Hurt."

"Yeah, I know. They took a couple of your teeth out."

Julian's eyes widen, "My  _teef_?"

"Just the back ones," Derek reassures him, "Don't worry, you're still gonna win best smile at the Teen Choice Awards, or whatever."

Julian still frowns a little, poking at his own cheek and wincing at the feel, "Pe'ety?"

It takes a great deal of self-control for Derek to hold back his laughter, "Yes, Jules, you're still very pretty."

That makes Julian absolutely  _beam_ , his swollen cheeks dimpling even mores than usual, "Thin' I'm pe'ety?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're a very attractive person. If I was into dudes I'm definitely be all over that."

" _Lo_ 'an's inna dudes," Julian slurs, " _He_ doe'n thin' I'm pe'ety."

Something in Derek's stomach twists uncomfortably, and he lowers the camera an inch, "I'm sure Logan thinks you're very pretty. He's dumb, but he's not blind."

Julian shakes his head a little violently, "Nuh- _uh_."

He shouldn't press the issue. He really,  _really_ shouldn't. But Julian's not normally one to divulge personal information, and part of Derek needs to confirm something he's suspected for some time now. He closes out of his camera, tucking his phone away into his pocket.

"Hey, Jules?" He waits for Julian to tilt his head up, considers his words carefully, "Do you, um...do you think Logan's pretty."

" _So_ pe'ety," Julian says in earnest, "Beau'iful."

"You like him a lot, don't you, buddy?"

"Do you...do you love him?"

Julian stares at him for a few seconds, then his head lolls down onto his chest.

"Sad," he says softly, "'m  _stupid_."

"Hey, no," Derek reaches for Julian's hand, squeezing softly, "You're not stupid, okay? We're gonna go get you ice cream and everything right now, alright? Come on, I'm taking you home."

Julian's mostly quiet as Derek uses the clinic-provided wheelchair to get him to the car, only lets out a small complaint when the wheel catches on a doorway and jostles him uncomfortably.

Once he's in the car, though, it's like he can't shut up. He spends ten minutes babbling about how good of a musician Logan is -- " _sing so good, ohmygoo'ness, piano so nice!" --_ and another ten on Logan's eyes -- " _so_ _g'een? how?"_

Derek thought he'd love seeing Julian high on painkillers and lingering anesthetic. But now he just feels  _guilty_. He knows Julian doesn't want him to know all this, that if he remembers even a little bit of this conversation he'll be completely horrified with himself. He tries to change the subject, more than once.

"I'm gonna go grab you some ice cream real quick, okay? Do you want mint chocolate chip? Cookie dough?"

" _Lo_ 'an likes mint!" Julian says brightly, "G'een, like his  _eyes_!"

"...yeah, it is. Here, I'm gonna turn the radio on for you. I'll be back in five minutes, I promise."

He sets the child locks, just in case Julian gets any ideas about leaving the car. It takes him a little longer than expected to grab the ice cream, but Julian doesn't even seem to have noticed his absence. He returns to what sounds like the middle of a monologue about Logan.

"--an he  _hugged_ me," Julian's saying, when Derek dumps the grocery bag on his lap, "So warm? He smells so  _good_."

"That's because he steals my cologne."

"Nuh- _uh_ ," Julian scoffs, " _You_ don' smell good."

"Ass."

He tries to tune out Julian's ramblings for the rest of the drive, focuses on getting them both back to Stuart in one piece. When he pulls into the parking lot, he curses -- the Dalton fencing team bus has just parked along the curb, and Derek can see Logan's familiar shock of blonde hair in the crowd. He'd hoped they had a little more time before the team got back from their competition, that he'd be able to get Julian in bed and mostly to sleep before they saw Logan. But Logan turns at the sound of the approaching car, grins when he spots Derek and Julian through the dash. He grabs his bag and jogs over, reaching for Julian's door the moment Derek parks.

"Hey Jules," he says with a wide grin, "You feeling a little loopy?"

 _Don't say anything,_ Derek prays,  _Please, don't tell him like this._

Julian leans toward the blonde, head nearly tilting onto his shoulder.

_Please, don't say anything. You'll hate yourself if you say anything._

"Lo'an? I gotta tell you so'thin."

"Oh?" Logan looks amused, "What's that?"

_He's delusional. He told me he loved me too, in the car. And the dentist. And the receptionist. I think it's just a thing, you know?_

"I..." Julian stares seriously, eyes narrowing as he looks up at Logan, "I can' feel my knees."

Logan nearly chokes he laughs so hard. He doesn't notice Derek's sigh of relief, just reaches over to unbuckle Julian's seatbelt.

"D, take my bag for me would you?" He says, tossing it behind him, "Come on Princess, I'm gonna take you to bed."

Julian falls limply against Logan, letting the taller boy scoop him into his arms, "I  _love_ bed."

"I know you do."

"Warm."

"Yeah, we'll get you blankets, don't worry."

Julian makes a happy noise, snuggling against Logan's chest as they trek upstairs. Derek practically holds his breath for the whole walk, muttering thank you's to the universe when Julian stays silent. He seems half-asleep, as Logan tucks him into bed, rolling over onto one side and blinking blearily at the other two.

"Lo'an?" he asks quietly, "Am I pe'ety?"

Logan turns to grin at Derek, a fond  _can-you-believe-this-idiot_ look on his face.

"Yes, Julian. I think you're very pretty."

Julian's clearly delighted by that, beaming brightly and snuggling beneath the blankets. Logan adds a quilt to the bed, tucking it firmly around Julian's chin. Derek leaves the food he'd bought in Julian's mini-fridge, the extra painkillers on his nightstand.

"Get some sleep, okay?" Logan's saying quietly, lightly petting at Julian's hair, "We'll check on you in a little while."

"Po'mise?"

"I promise, Jules."

Julian smiles and lets his eyes drift closed. Logan rises from the bed, nods at Derek as they both walk out.

"Did you film anything good?" He asks with a grin as the door closes.

"...nah," Derek shrugs, "He was mostly just complaining about the pain, at first. Then he just got really sleepy in the car. Nothing exciting."

"Damn," Logan shakes his head, still with that fond grin on his face, "Shame. He's kinda cute like this."

"Yeah. Cute."

" _Am I pretty_ , what a dork."

"He did say something about looking funny without his teeth. Probably just worried he won't look the same anymore."

"Please," Logan scoffs, "Like Julian'd ever look ugly."

He looks thoughtful, for a moment, and Derek isn't sure what to say. But then Logan shakes his head, moves to head off to his own room.

"I'm gonna shower. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid before I get back."


	2. II

"It's hitting him pretty hard," the dental assistant says with a grimace as she leads Derek and Logan into the room, "He asked if I was the tooth fairy, then got upset because I was supposed to leave him money."

Julian snorts, and Derek has to reach out to pinch him, "Be nice. You were a piece of work when you got your wisdom teeth out, let me remind you."

"He's my  _boyfriend_ ," Julian says (still, after two whole months, lighting up at the word), "I'm allowed to make fun of him."

Logan's staring wide-eyed at the wall when they walk in, barely budging as Derek and Julian move to either side of his chair.

"Lo?" Derek speaks first, and Logan's head swings around to look at him.

"They took my  _teeth_ ," Logan says, much more clearly than he expected, "They  _took_ them, Derek!"

"They were compacted, remember? You said they were hurting?"

"But they  _took_ them!"

"It's okay, baby," Julian says, perching on the chair beside him, "You're perfect even without your teeth."

Logan's head lolls the other way, and a dopey smile spreads across his face when he catches sight of Julian.

"You called me  _baby_ ," he says, "So  _cute_."

"I'm allowed to call you petnames."

Logan giggles a little, "'cause you're my  _boyfriend_."

"That's right."

"Amazing."

Logan just stares, slightly open-mouthed, eyes fixed on Julian's face. Julian, for his part, looks extremely flattered. His chest puffs up a little, and he shoots a grin at Derek.

"Oh my god, you guys are disgusting," Derek pulls a face, and Logan turns back to him at the sound of his voice.

"Derek!" he crows excitedly, like he's forgotten Derek's there, "I gotta tell you something!"

"Is it that you think I'm pretty?"

" _No_ ," Logan says firmly, and Derek tries not to be offended, "It's a secret."

"Oh god, let's not spill anymore secrets while under the influence of drugs, alright?"

"It's  _important_."

"Oh come on," Julian says, smiling, "Let him tell you the secret."

"Sh!" Logan turns to glare at Julian, pointing one finger in a way that's likely meant to be threatening, " _Derek's_ secret, not yours."

"Of course, sorry. I won't listen."

Logan seems satisfied with that, and turns back to Derek, one hand reaching up to tug at his shirt until he leans closer.

"I have a secret," he says, whispering loudly, "You can't tell."

"...okay. What's your secret?"

"Jules is my  _boyfriend_ ," Logan says, the same dopey grin on his face.

"That's not a secret, Logan."

"There's  _more_ ," Logan says insistently, tugging Derek so close he can smell his breath, "I  _love_ him."

From Logan's other side, Julian's breath catches. Derek glances up, watches the way Julian's eyes soften. He knows Logan hasn't actually said those words yet, that Julian's hang-up with those words still lingers between them. Still, he looks touched, a small smile gracing his lips when Logan says them.

"I can't say yet," Logan continues, "He's not  _ready_. But I love him  _so much_."

"You know something, Logan? I think he loves you too."

Logan finally releases his grip on Derek's shirt, beaming, "Yeah. I know."

Julian's trying to compose himself, raising a hand to wipe the happy tears from his eyes. His movement seems to catch Logan's attention, and Logan turns to him, now, the same insistent expression on his face.

"Jules," he whispers, grabbing for his wrist, "Julian, I have a secret."

"It's okay, Lo. You don't have to tell me."

"But it's  _important_."

He takes Julian's hand in both of his, clinging tightly as he blinks up at Julian.

"...okay. What's the secret?"

"Derek," Logan says, very solemnly, "Has a  _pimple_."


End file.
